People like to think that the mountains of Southern California are all soft and cushy. They’re not. They’re hard. Just ask 33-year-old snowboarder Timothy Triche. He went out of bounds at Mt. Baldy Ski Area on Wednesday, got lost in a storm and ended up barely surviving the night, according to a story in the Daily Bulletin.
He called 911 with his cell phone but weather conditions delayed his rescue until Thursday morning. . . . Rescuers reached Triche at 7 a.m. at the 10,000-foot level, according to the release.
Search and rescue apparently told Triche to huddle under some rocks and stay about of the wind for the night. After his rescue he was taken to “San Antonio Community Hospital where he was treated for frostbite and exposure.”
Woodward at Copper, a collaboration between Camp Woodward and Copper Mountain Resort kicks open on February 28, 2009, according to a story on First Tracks Online. Apparently, there will be three levels of “training” offered:
Winter Camp Days, Introductory price $199, Season Passholder price $159 (includes lift ticket and lunch)
The One Hit Wonder, Introductory price $69
Drop-In Sessions, Single Session $25, 5-Session pass $100
Then, in the summer a whole new set of snow training will go down.
Whether it’s on the cover of business magazine Fast Company, or Rolling Stone, or in a new film about his visit to the remote Hokkaido backcountry in Japan for sponsor Red Bull, the energy drink, White is casual and never stiff, a relaxed Southern California style, where he grew up and lives, a guy you’d actually like to hang out with. Never mind that he’s a ridiculously amazing halfpipe rider, and is a double threat – a top-tier skateboarder in his spare time, with an eye on the 2012 Summer Olympics in London if skateboarding, as speculated, enters the Olympics.
While we’re not so sure about the snowboard fame lineage coming down from Jake Burton, Craig Kelly, and Terje Haakonsen (we’d put Shaun Palmer in there), it is true that Shaun White is doing the snowboard celebrity thing better than anyone before him has ever done. And a reported $10 million in annual endorsement money helps keep him right there.
Like it or not, the moms of the suburban west shop at Sport Chalet for snowboards and skateboards (and ping pong balls) so it is no real surprise that the retailer whose 55 stores are all in “the housing states” would be down in the third quarter ending December 28, 2008, according to a story on Sports One Source.
Sport Chalet, Inc. saw sales for its third quarter of FY09 ended Dec. 28, 2008 declined 10.3% to $104.6 million compared to $116.6 million last year. Eight new stores not included in same store sales contributed $4.7 million in sales for the quarter while same store sales decreased 15.4%. . . . Gross profit as a percent of sales was 22.3% compared to 30.2% for the third quarter of last year.
The palatial mansion that Target rented as Shaun White’s homebase for the X Games 13 at Buttermilk is on its way to foreclosure according to a story in the Aspen Daily News.
A notice of election and demand — a document that starts a foreclosure proceeding in Colorado — was filed on the property Dec. 22. The 14,000-square-foot palace that Target Corp. rented out for its extreme athletes is set to be auctioned off on the steps of the Pitkin County Courthouse on April 29 unless the $4.6 million note securing the property is satisfied.
The “Target House” was a spec house that was reportedly finished last fall and “was listed for $26 million but was recently marked down to $19.5 million,” the paper said. Ah, the X Games glamor fades so quickly, doesn’t it?
We’ve been meaning to mention this for a while, but never ended up posting anything. For the past year we’ve been keeping up on the international competition shred scenes with the Shralp! podcast on our Apple TV.
Every two weeks Shralp collects video from the best snowboard events around the world, VO’s them up with a euro-english accent, and pushes out a podcast in every format known to video. The clips are super timely, well edited and smooth.
Shralp is created by Christian “mee-z” Miessner with help from Boris Bendek (David’s brother) and Quirin Rohleder and has been rolling since 2005. Don’t ask us why it took us so long to mention it, but now we have. The best way is to subscribe via iTunes.
Nike plans to eliminate 4 percent of their 35,000 person work force (about 1,400 jobs) according to a story on Oregonlive.com.
The decision to reduce our work force is a difficult one, but it will put our business in the strongest position possible to continue to deliver long-term profitability and growth,” President and CEO Mark Parker said in a statement. . . . The layoffs would be Nike’s first since 1998 and 1999, when the company cut about 2,500 positions — but not the first belt-tightening measure of this recession. Late last year, Nike executives instituted a hiring freeze, reined in travel spending and said they would slow their plans for opening new stores in 2009.
Another analyst who follows Quiksilver’s stock has downgraded her rating thanks to Quik’s rather large debt, according to a story in the Orange County Business Journal.
Caris & Co. analyst Claire Armstrong Gallacher downgraded Quiksilver’s stock to “average” from “above average,” saying the company’s profits are “at risk” due to its heavy debt and the retail sector’s downturn. . . . “Given the large debt burden, tight credit markets and worsening consumer spending trends we would recommend investment in companies with debt free balance sheets,” Gallacher wrote.
